Category Archives: osprey

Vacationing

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The nesting platform was erected while I was in the states. Close to the water. Good fishing, but as soon as I saw it, I knew it was in the wrong place. What bird would raise a family in the middle of a hunting ground?

Move it back I said. Way back.

So the platform now resides at the rear of the property. Still close to the ocean, but not right next to it.

The first year, a young male (males select and start the nesting process) arrived and took possession. He brought a few pieces of seaweed and rope. Nothing fancy. Not like the town birds, who have enormous habitats, but a start. He waited and waited, crying into the wind, until finally, a female arrived. She checked him out. The nest. The view. And seemed interested in staying. Except she brought a boyfriend, who was quite persistent in his wooing. Hovering above the nest. Diving to interfer in the nest-builders business. The younger bird seemed as if he didn’t quite know what to do. He’d approach her from the air, and then back off. Eventually, the female left with the other suiter, and the original male gave up the nest.

This year, a fresh male arrived, complete with new nesting materials. A piece of fabric off some boat. Heavy rope. More seaweed. A female followed, and boy, did they make use of the property. I was thrilled. Spotting scope set on the platform, hungrily watching them consume fish and dance in their mating ritual. Anxiously I began waiting for eggs and babies. I was just about to give the raptors names, when just as quickly as they had arrived, they left.

With some sadness, I decided the platform must have been their get-away hotel room. They made full use of the great view. the fresh ocean breezes. Love making complete, they returned to their other home..

This last week, they returned.

Vacationing I decided.

Brought fish. Chatted up each other. Hung out for a couple or days. Nesting season is over for the year, and they didn’t last a week. But it was good to see their faces. Watch them hunt. Flap their wings. Peruse the neighborhood.

I have hope for next year. Maybe three time is the charm?

It’s a nice platform.

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The Look of Love

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Update on osprey love story and nesting development.

First, they need a new architect. This nest, well, the truth is, they’ve never finished the nest. My guess, and I’m only an observational scientist, is that they are likely two-year old birds, at least the male. He has definitely chosen a nesting site, made an honest attempt to attract a mate, found a willing female, and then wasn’t quite sure what to do next. The photo above is either a look of love, or a look of “I don’t know, do you?”

Second, it’s VERY late in the season for mating. While other nests have hungry chicks demanding constant nutrition, ‘our’ birds (my neighbors deeply involved in what has been a challenging love triangle), come and go, more like dating than mating. Although they do coo (if you can call an osprey call a coo), neck a bit, as in rubbing beaks, and spend some afternoons simply hanging out together.

Male #1, who Ii will give a name, has certainly secured his nesting site. He is present in the mornings, brings his fish breakfast or lunch back to sup on site, and occasionallly adds a stick or piece of seawood to his abode. Afternoons, he’ll call until the female shows up and then they just sit for a while, watching, always alert to the surrounding sounds and activites.

Male #2 continues his attemps to usurp the nest. When the pair is together, he will fly in, swoop down on them, ‘glare’ from the neighbors attention perch above, and do his best to disrupt the romance in progress.

As I type, Male #1 has returned with a fish and is hard at work consuming his lunch. The drama of the love saga and the joy of watching certainly interferes with my other ‘work’, as I can’t seem to stop watching. I love getting to know them, identifying their unique characteristics, and learning their behaviors, all by observation. It’s the best kind of science I can imagine and hugely rewarding.